Assessing Cortex Ratios: An Example from the Beaucoup Site (24PH188/189) in the Northwestern Plains

Abstract

ABSTRACT Lithic analysts have long used cortical coverage as a variable for assessing reduction intensity; however, differing interpretative frameworks can yield inconsistent conclusions. Dibble et al.'s ([2005]. The measurement and interpretation of cortex in lithic assemblages. American Antiquity, 70(3), 545–560. doi:10.2307/40035313) cortex model established a baseline for interpreting cortex within the organization of technology. In this paper, we employ their model and variations of interval scale assessments to address both methodological and interpretative issues associated with its application using lithic materials from the multicomponent Beaucoup site in northern Montana. For example, knowledge of raw material shape has important implications for archaeological interpretation at the Beaucoup site where the use of a scalene ellipsoid model provided a better estimate for initial raw material shape than a spherical model. We further identify that a 4-Interval scale provides the most expeditious and interpretively robust approach for quantifying cortex as a variable.